PLACES at two Ilminster schools will be stretched to their limits over the next four years, it has emerged.

A report says Greenfylde School is set to be full by 2016 and Swanmead School will be almost at capacity by 2018.

It is not planned to merge the schools or to move to a two-tier education system – and the option of a secondary school in the town is ‘not on the table’.

But the report says land is set aside for a new first school capable of teaching up to 450 children.

Head teachers at both schools were not fazed by the news.

Mark Walker, of Swanmead School, said: “With the school provision in the town continuing to flourish and be successful, I think all should welcome the news that numbers on roll continue to grow and look healthy.

“It shows a need for conversations to occur in order to collectively decide how we combat this exciting opportunity.

“As long as the two schools in the town continue to work closely and effectively together and support one another, there is never the need to be unnecessarily radical. The Ilminster community is proud of its two schools and its involvement in a traditional system that clearly works.”

Chard & Ilminster News:

Swanmead School.

Claire Oaten, of Greenfylde School, said: “We work closely with Somerset County Council about our numbers on roll and any issues we can see down the line. Whatever the numbers, we will do what is best for the children and continue to provide outstanding teaching and learning for them.”

Somerset County Council has set aside land in Ilminster for a new first school and it was proposed it should be located off Canal Way next to the doctor’s surgery.

The report said: “There would be the potential for it to be a two-storey building with provision for 450 children and playing fields.”

It was suggested the build could cost about £5million but the report said it did not mean the county council had the funds to build the school.

Figures show Greenfylde School, which has 338 children on roll, has capacity for 380 but planning applications are in the system for about 429 houses and if all were approved, 73 more places would be needed.

At Swanmead, the report says the school has 254 pupils and could cater for 348. It says in 2018 ten places will be left at the school.

Chard & Ilminster News:

Greenfylde First School head teacher Claire Oaten.

The provision for school places is calculated at the start of each year and takes into account approved planning applications and housing already built.

The calculations are reviewed in October when schools send their pupil census data into the county council.

Unless population grows by thousands rather than hundreds, the report says a secondary school would not be considered.

Ilminster town councillors met county council and South Somerset District Council officers after Ilminster Mayor Emma Jane Taylor received an email about concerns over future education provision in the town.

At last week’s town council meeting, councillors had mixed reactions to the findings.

Cllr Stuart Shepherd said there were ‘a lot of delicate issues’ involving education in South Somerset and felt the report could be ‘raising the hopes of people’.

Cllr Sophie Storey said the matter of school places was talked about ‘all the time’ and added: “It is really good to see as a council we have got this information on record so it shows we are interested in it.

“It shows we have an interest in the education of children in the town.”

Mayor Emma Jane Taylor said the meeting with council officers and the report was purely a factfinding exercise and that she wanted to have all the facts before any debate on the town’s future education.